Kagura had officially had it. The last seven days had been nothing but pure, unadulterated torture. Her boss and long-time friend (and her not so secret crush) Saitō Sesshoumaru had just broken up with his latest girlfriend, and therefore he'd been in a foul mood all week. He'd already fired three people this morning, including his secretary, who'd run out of the building in tears. This most recent memo was the last straw. It basically demanded that the entire advertising department step up its efforts on the new fall line, which wouldn't be all that big a deal, if he hadn't demanded that the entire campaign be ready to go in two weeks. They hadn't even finished shooting the commercials, for god's sake! Crumpling up the memo, Kagura stood up and snarled as she chucked it violently into the trash, "That does it!"

Storming out of her office, she strode through the advertizing department; her destination: Saitō Sesshoumaru's office. The replacement secretary, a bleached blonde girl Kagura didn't know by the name of Nazuna, tried to stop her. As if an off-duty Ganguro girl could stand between her and her target.

"Miss Tadashi, Saitō-sama said that no one was to distur--"

"Oh, go choke on a bag of dicks, bimbo," Kagura roared, shoving the girl aside ruthlessly -- hard enough to make her stumble.

Grabbing onto both big brass handles to Sesshoumaru's impressive mahogany doors, she swung them open simultaneously and strode imperiously into his office. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed at the stunned inu-youkai, who did nothing but gaze at her with an uncharacteristic show of open surprise.

"YOU! Cancel all your appointments, NOW!"

"What?"

"You heard me, buster. Cancel all you appointments right now."

Having recovered from his initial shock, the Ice King of Taisho Advertising was back and in full effect. Leveling his coldest glare at her, he carefully set his pen down and steepled his fingers as he addressed her. "Kagura, I know that we're friends but this kind of elaborate joke is entirely inappropriate for the work--"

If she were anyone else, she might have been intimidated into silence by his curt reproach, but she was Tadashi Kagura -- the Wicked Witch of the advertising department and she was not about to be ignored or dismissed. "What gave you the impression I was joking. I'm perfectly serious. Cancel all your appointments for the day."

"And why, pray tell, would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, you may not have an advertising department by the end of the day."

"Is that so?"

"It most certainly is. We shouldn't suffer because the tart of the week broke up with you."

"I think I'd call that insubordination."

"And I think I'd call it the truth." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. Kagura was aware that he'd been serious with this last girl, but she clearly hadn't been serious with him. Higurashi Kagome was a sweet girl, she really was, but she was still way too hung up on Sesshoumaru's half brother to give him any kind of real attention. It was clear to everyone but him that Sesshoumaru had merely been the back up boyfriend. "You deserve better, Maru. You know it and I know it. Throwing yourself into work isn't gonna change anything. It isn't gonna make you feel better. It isn't gonna make you forget. It isn't gonna change anything. I'm your best friend in the whole world, who knows you better than me? So just trust me for once and cancel your appointments."

There was no real visible reaction to her little speech. But it wasn't what you could see with Sesshoumaru but what you couldn't. He didn't object to what she said. He didn't look away. He just stared at her for a long time as if he was in deep contemplation. With a resigned sigh, he depressed the button on the intercom. "Nazuna, cancel all my appointments for today." He didn't even wait for her to answer, assuming, quite rightly, that it would be done. "So, what do you have in mind?"

Kagura smiled mischievously. "Two words. Mini. Golf."

One eye-roll and a face-palm later, high powered businessman Saitō Sesshoumaru and his head of advertising had found the cheapest, goofiest looking carnival themed Mini-Golf range in the Yokohama area. And as Sesshoumaru tried and failed to get his ball to go into the laughing clown's mouth, he turned to her and pointed his neon green putter at her accusingly. "This is all your fault."

Kagura grinned. "Yeah, but at least you're happy."

"Says who," he grumbled, setting up his ball for the nth time.

"Says me. I mean, come on! It's mini golf, no one can be sad when playing mini golf! It's physically impossible."

"Hn," he replied, his bright golden eyes staring at the laughing clown with the intensity of the most serious samurai warrior. He swung and damned if that ball didn't fly straight into the laughing clown's mouth. Sesshoumaru stood to his full height, eyeing the defeated clown with satisfaction, his neon green putter resting on his shoulder triumphantly. He looked back at his friend, a small, affectionate smile on his face and Kagura knew at that moment that though she undoubtedly would lose this game of mini golf, she had won in a lot of other ways.

Author's Note

Inspired by and dedicated to Miss Teak. This story was born out of my obsession for her latest work, The Third Parties. I mean, really, who DOESN'T love mini golf? It's short and mostly pointless, but I like it. This is my first Kagura/Sesshoumaru. Be kind. And if you haven't read The Third Parties, doooooooooooooooo it.